Riverside Officer Injured by Lightning in Joplin

JOPLIN - A Riverside police officer is recovering from a near-lightning strike suffered while he was helping out with the Joplin tornado aftermath.

The unidentified officer was being treated at a Joplin-area hospital for burns and other injuries after the strike around 5 p.m. Monday. Riverside police spokesman Sgt. Brent Holland says the officer had just driven a fire commander back to a command post and was standing next to an all-terrain vehicle when the lightning struck near him.